2013
Brighton, United Kingdom

City Centre Car Parks have the Sika Makeover

Built in 1969, the Regency Square Car Park is a three storey underground car park located in the prestigious Regency Square on Brighton’s seafront. Constructed from reinforced in situ concrete, the car park has a capacity of 499 car parking spaces with 77 on the top level, 184 in the middle and 238 on the lower level.

Regency car park project
Regency car park project

Car Park Repair Project Requirements

The reinforced concrete structure has had little maintenance until 2013 and in some areas the corrosion was extreme. In a bid to modernise and update the car park and to make it brighter, safer and more welcoming for residents and visitors, owner Brighton and Hove City Council’s £2.82 million (£5658 per space) refurbishment plans included structural repairs, new waterproof deck systems, improved signage and bay markings and better lighting.

Sika Concrete Repair Solutions

Following more than forty years of exposure to water, de-icing salts, airborne contaminants and the constant use of vehicles, the car park’s ageing concrete structure was treated and repaired and a new waterproof and decorative decking systems was applied. The work was carried out one level at a time to ensure minimal disruption to residents and visitors. To reduce disruption during the refurbishment works, Sikafloor®-Pronto was used for the ramps. Based on PMMA resin technology the ramp system could be applied in low temperatures with a cure time of less than 1 hour between coats. This facilitated the application of the car park ramp system to be applied overnight, allowing the car park to be open to vehicles the following morning. This greatly reduced the disruption to the public during the refurbishment works and allowed the car park to remain open during normal hours.

Brighton and Hove City Council worked closely with the specialist contractor and building product manufacturer Sika to ensure that the car park structures were repaired to provide a safe environment for all car park users when reopened. Environmental conditions during refurbishment were fairly extreme, with prolonged cold temperatures (long winter; no sunlight); lots of rain and much noise and dust from concrete repairs. Nevertheless close monitoring of dust and noise level sensured conditions were safe for workers, car park users and neighbours.

The car park remained open to the public throughout the one year contract period by phasing works, with work areas isolated by fencing and dust screens. Repairs and finishes to the access ramp was done with prudent access controls; allowing users to enter the car park up until 10am then parking on the lower level, allowing ramp work to proceed unhindered for the rest of the day.

With the Regency Car Park now complete and in daily use, the car park now has a reliable, durable and high performance surface, all thanks to a high quality refurbishment and a comprehensive selection of market leading products from Sika.

Products Used

Sikafloor®-Pronto

Project Participants

Client
Brighton and Hove City Council

Sika Organization

Sika Limited